UKTV appoints new boss as Virgin seeks a buyer for the JV August 12, 2010 UKTV yesterday announced a major shake-up of its board just days after it emerged Virgin will sell its stake in the joint venture. Darren Childs will take the helm at the profitable broadcaster, stepping down from his post as managing director of BBC Worldwide Channels. He will replace David Abraham, who stepped down in April [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 12, 2010 INTERSERVE UBS downgrades Interserve to “sell” from “neutral” with an 180p price target warning it faces “serious headwinds” going forward. Expects significant revenue drop in UK construction of 32 per cent from peak to trough resulting in an 85 per cent fall in divisional profit. Believes support services margin pressure will also persist. ING Deutsche [...]
Airports face closure as BAA workers vote for strike action August 12, 2010 BAA workers have voted in favour of strike action that could close Heathrow and five other UK airports. The ballot came after the Unite union rejected a one per cent pay offer from the airport operator. Airports will have to close on any strike days, as essential staff including firefighters are due to take part [...]
KNOC bid for Dana hits the buffers August 12, 2010 Oil explorer Dana Petroleum takeover talks had stalled after Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) said it was unwilling to raise its offer and refused to sign a confidentiality agreement. Dana said senior board members had met with state-owned KNOC on 6 August following a £1.67bn approach for Dana last month. Dana said in a statement [...]
Findel sells unit to tackle debt August 12, 2010 Home shopping and education supplies firm Findel said it would sell a unit, which includes its gadgets and gifts business, to online retailer The Hut Group in a cash deal worth £0.6m to help reduce its debt pile. Findel, whose net debt stood at £309.6m as of 2 April, had earlier said its level of [...]
Sportingbet boosted by World Cup August 12, 2010 British Internet gambling firm Sportingbet said it had performed strongly during the World Cup in South Africa with margins boosted by a number of results going against the favourites during the competition. Sportingbet said it had taken over £50m worth of bets during the tournament, of which 65 per cent were made during matches using [...]
Prudential profit rises by 34pc August 12, 2010 Britain’s largest insurer Prudential reported a better-than-expected 34 per cent rise in first-half operating profit, helped by improving investment returns amid a broader market recovery. Prudential’s operating profit was £1.68bn for the first six months of the year, based on European Embedded Value (EEV) accounting standards, higher than a consensus forecast of £1.54bn and better [...]
Markets plunge on fresh dip fear August 11, 2010 GLOBAL markets plummeted yesterday after the Bank of England cut its growth forecast and the US trade gap widened dramatically intensifying fears of a double-dip recession. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones recorded its biggest loss in six weeks, dropping 2.5 per cent to 10,378.83 and taking the index into negative territory for the year, [...]
UBS to fight plagiarism accusations August 11, 2010 UBS last night said it would “vigorously” fight a potentially embarrassing lawsuit from a small news agency, which has accused the investment bank of lifting copyrighted material for its in-house updates. Energy Intelligence, an oil and gas reporting service, claims UBS reproduced parts of its articles for its own energy newsletter, Daily Oil News. It [...]
Private equity job for Davies August 11, 2010 Former government minister and past chairman of Standard Chartered Mervyn Davies has joined private equity firm Corsair Capital, boosting the specialist financial services investor’s senior management team. Lord Davies joins Corsair, which spun out of JPMorgan Chase in 2006, as vice chairman and partner, based in London. He most recently served as minister of state [...]